Hot-air furnace



June 23, 1925.

R. COSTELLO HOT AIR FURNACE 5 sheet sh'eet 1 Filed June 19, 1922 R. P. COSTELL/O June 23, 1925 HOT AIR FURNACE Filed Jun 19, 1922 s sheets sheet 2 June 23, 1925.

R. P, COSTELLO HOT AIR FURNACE T5 Sheets-Sheei;

Filed June 19, 1922 I 9 front side of the furnace.

grate is adjustable to allow a greater or Patented June 23, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT PATRICK COSTELLO, or nasr CALGARY, amnn'ra, CANADA.

HOT-AIR FURNACE.

Application filed June 19, 1922. SerialNo. 569,373.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT PATRICK Cos- TELLO, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing in the city of East Calgary, in

the Province of Alberta and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHot-Air Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to hotair furnaces, and has for its object to provide a new hot air furnace which is substantially divided into two parts by a vertical wall. In the front part is'a vertical fire placewith a vertical grate and a combustion chamber.-

In the rear portion of the furnace thereis a smoke chamber. The air conduit is situated between the combustion and smoke chambers so that the large surface of the air conduit is exposed to the heat of the combustion'chamber and also to the secondary heating action of the smoke chamber. 7

A further object is to provide the vertical grate with an apertured wall on the combustion side, whereby the air in the conduit is -heated-by direct radiation fromthe glowing coals.

further object is to provide a fire place with a wall formed of spaced bars on the combustion side, and a vertical grate on the This vertical lesser amount of fuel to be fed from a hopper. I provide in this vertical fire place a rocker or movable grate whereby the ashes may be sifted down from the vertical fire place. I r

A further object is to provide a means whereby the coal in the hopper will be prevented from getting superheated through the heat radiated from the combustion chamber and which comprises a water receptaclelocated in the combustion chamber and designed to heat the water to be con,- sumed for domestic use. The water pipe extends through the hopper and thus sufliciently cools the same to overcome the heat radiated from the combustion chamber.

.VVith my construction of a vertical fire place, an even draught'is provided across the body of the fuel. The coal in the upper end of the fire place becomes ignited from the hot fuel at the bottom, and more or less materially regulates its oWn draught at each particular part of the vertical fire place, i. e.,

at the bottom where it is burning more as at 21.

fiercely, there will be a greater draught through the fuel.

A still. further object is to provide an im proved hot air furnace that issimple in construction, not'liable to goout of repair and generally to adapt the several parts to better perform the functions required of them.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved hot air furnace. at

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the same.

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings:

A represents a hot air furnace comprising, according to the well known construction of such furnaces, a main body 10 preferably of cylindrical form which is elevated from the ground through being carried by suitable supports 11 and which is housed by a jacket 12 concentrically disposed over the body or Y shell 10 and forming an annular air chamber around the same as shown at.'13. i The body 10 is traversed by a longitudinal air conduit 1 1 which communicates throughboth ends with the air chamber 13 and which is adapted to superheat theair before the same is fed into the pipes radiating through the several apartments of the house.

The combustion chamber 15 of the furnace is provided in front of the conduit 14 and is separated from the fuel on the grate by means of a Wall 16 formed on a plurality of spaced parallel bars 17 and which wall is supported through any suitable means as at 18. In spaced relation from the wall 16 is a vertical grate 19 forming a fire place therebetween which is connected at its top as at 20 and is slidably connected at its lower end This sliding connection obviously enables one to adjust the vertical grate relatively to the wall 16 in order to enlarge or reduce the combustion space between the grate and wall and thus allow for a larger or smaller quantity of coal being burned in a determined time.

A support for the coal between the verti-. cal grate19 and the bar 16 is provided through the medium of a horizontal grate 22 which has a bar 23 extending through the front wall of the furnace as at 24 and the protruding end 24 may be secured ac cording to the well known construction in order to be engaged by a suitable crank handle whereby the horizontal grate may be rocked or shaken.

In front of the vertical grate 19 a draft door 25 may be provided in the front door 25 whereby a suitable draft will be allowed when the fire is started in order to cause the coal to burn effectually.

Provided on top of the vertical grate 19 is a hopper 26 which is located at the top end of the furnace and has a springing door 27, A suitable quantity of coal is placed in the hopper 26 which obviously is filled only if the combustion space between the grate 19 and the slotted wall 16 is filled with coal. When the hopper 26 is filled with coal, the space between the grate 19 and the wall 16 will be automatically kept full of coal through the cavities caused in the space by the burned coal or ashes falling into the ash pit 28 causing the coal in the hopper 26 to fall by gravity and fill these cavities in the combustion space.

A door 29 may be provided at the lower end in the front wall of the furnace through which the ash pit 28 will be suitably cleaned.

A means is provided to prevent the coal in the hopper 26 from getting superheated and kindled by the heat radiated from the combustion chamber 15. This means comprises a water acket- 30 which has a water inlet pipe 31 and a water outlet 32, both pipes 31 and 32 extending through the hopper 26. This device is adapted to provide the quantity of water needed for domestic consumption and at the same time the cold water running through the pipe 31 which extends within the hopper 26 will sufficiently cool the coal therein as to prevent the same from being kindled by the heat radiated from the combustion chamber 15.

A suitable baflie wall is provided in the combustion chamber 15, the baflie wall 33 being carried by the conduit 14. and extending transversely of the body 10. This baffie wall forms a smoke compartment 34 which encircles the conduit 14 and towhich compartment the con rbustiou chamber is connected through a plurality of openings provided in the baffle wall 33. The smoke compartment 34 is connected at its upper end with a smokestack 35 provided with a damper 36 through which the draft from the chimney may be checked or increased, and into the lower end of the smoke compartment 34 extends a pipe 37 provided with the usual check door 38 and connected to the upper smokestack 35 by a connecting pipe 39. Suitable air inlets for the air chamber 13 are provided as at 40 and 41 while a plurality of pipes 42 may be provided at the head of the jacket 12 which lead to the several radiators provided throughout the rooms of the house.

When a house in which a furnace of this type has been installed is to be heated, a

suitable fire is started in the combustion space between the grate 19 and the wall 16 after the space has been adjusted to the increased width through the sliding operation of the lower end of the grate 19. After the wood placed on the grates has been kindled, a suitable provision of coal is placed into the hopper 26 when the coal will fall into the fire in the combustion space and the flame of the burning coal will extend through the paral.

lel bars 17 of the wall 16 into the combustion chamber 15. The provision of burning coal will be kept up by the coal located in the hopper 26 falling by gravity into the. combustion space as the coal therein is burned and the ashes fall into the ash pit 28. The cold air is fed through the inlet pipes 40 and 41 into the air chamber 13 and the same gets heated by the-heat radiated from the walls of the top 10 heated by the flame of the combustion chamber 15 and also by the hot products of combustion circulating into the smoke chamber 34 previously to being exhausted through the smokestack 35. The air which has been heated through its contact with the wall of the body 10 passes underneath the furnace and extends upwardly through the conduit 14 which serves as part of the wall for the combustion chamber 15.

As an extra combustion of the gases evolved frcm the burning of the coal occurs in the combustion chamber 15, the air extending upwardly through the conduit 14 will be superheated before it is delivered into the head of the furnace and fed to the several pipes 42 radiating therefron'i. V

\Vhen the fire is going on, the water circulation through the pipes 31 and 32 and the water receptacle 30 may be started in order to heat the suitable quantity of water which may be needed for domestic consumption and also in order to provide a cooling medium designed to prevent the coal in the hopper 26 from being superheated and kindled by the heat radiated from the combustion chamber 15.

However, one of the features of my invention is to have a grate onthe outside of the fire place, and a vertical perforated wall, such as the wall 16 with bars 17, so that the products of combustion will pass directly through the wall into a combustion chamber and also the radiated heat in the fuel will impinge directly on a portion of the furnace to be heated. A feature of my'invention 18 that I not only make use of the convection system of heating, but utilize the radiated heat from the burning fuel.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many widely different embodiments of my within the scope of the claims, constructed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matinvention ter contained in the accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as myinvention is:

1. A hot air furnace having a fire place and a combustion chamber at one side thereof, and a smoke chamber at the opposite side thereof, a vertical baffle wall separating the combustion and smoke chambers and extending from the bottom to the top of said chambers, and having an opening at its upper end only leading from the combustion to the smoke chambers, an air conduit extending vertically through the smoke chamber having one side formed of the bafiie wall, draught inlets to the fire place, a smoke outlet from the smoke chamber, and

air inlets and outlets for the air to be heated. V

2. The hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having-a body or shell surrounding the combustion and smoke chambers, and a concentric jacket forming an air heated space.

3. The hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, with an upright fire place with one wall adjacent the combustion chamber.

4. A hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having an upright fire place with a wall having openings therethrough adjacent the combustion chamber, said openings permitting the products of combustion to pass through, and also the radiated heat from the hot fuel to be transmitted.

5. The hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having an upright fire place with a wall adjacent the combustion chamber, and having openings.therethrough into said chamber, grate bars spaced from the wall and in the front portion of the furnace and forming the fire-place between the wall and the grate bars for the fuel.

6. The hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having an upright fire place with a Wall adjacent the combustion chambeiyand having opening therethrough into said cham ber, grate bars spaced from the wall'and in the front portion of the furnace and form ing the fire-place between the wall and the grate bars for the fuel, means to adjust the space between the wall and the grates to increase or decrease the size of the fire-place. 7. A hot air furnace as claimed in claim 6, having an upright fire place with a wall adjacent the combustion chamber and having openings therethrough into said chamber, grate bars spaced from the wall and in the front portion of the furnace and forming the fire place between the Wall and the grate bars for the fuel, means to adjust the space between the wall and the grates to increase or decrease the size of the fire place, a horizontal grate'at the bottom of the fire place, and means to shake the said grate.

' 8. A hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having an upright fire place comprising a vertical wall adjacent the combustion chamber and a grate adjacent the front of the furnace, a hopper above the fire place and leading fueltherethrough.

9. A hot air furnace as claimed in claim 1, having an upright fire place comprising a vertical wall adjacent the combustion chamber and a grate adjacent the front of the furnace, a hopper above the fire place and leading fuel thereto, water pipes to cool the fuel in the hopper, and a water jacket in contact with the combustion chamber, said water pipes leading through the hopper to the Water jacket so as to aid in cooling the fuel.

10. A hot air furnace having a main body forming the main structure of the furnace, a central vertical baffle wall extending from one side .to the other of said body and from the bottom to the top thereof with openings at the top, a. combustion chamber at the front of the baflle wall, a smoke chamber at chambers being only by the openings at the top of the baffle wall, a vertical fire place in the front of the combustion chamber having a vertical wall adjacent the combustion chamber and with openings leading therein, a vertical grate spaced from said vertical Wall and forming a fire place therebetween, means for adjusting the grate to increase or decrease the size of the fire place, grate bars at the bottom of the fire place, and means for shaping the grate bars, a hopper leading into the fire place, an air conduit at the rear side of the baffle wall having one side formed of said wall and the other portion of the wall separating the conduit from the smoke chamber, an outer jacket concentric with the main body of the furnace and forming an air space therebetween, a hood at the upper end of said concentric air space and air conduit, hot air pipes leading from said hood, and cold air ducts leading in to the concentric air space, a passage from the concentric air space to the central conduit. a direct smoke outlet from the top of the smoke chamber and an indirect smoke inlet from the bottom of the smoke chamber, and air dampers to provide draught for the fire place, the whole structure operating in combination substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT PATRICK COSTELLO.

WVitnesses:

FRANCES NOBLE, HARRY A. INGRAHAM. 

